I Need You
by yuukifudo
Summary: When Seto Kaiba is feeling the stress of his job, his schooling and the care of his little brother, it seems the last thing he needs is to almost run over one of his schoolmates, but what if that turns out to be just what he and Mokuba need?
1. Chapter 1

**Sorry, I just realized an earlier version of this had been posted. Nothing has changed except the opening and closing notes. **

**Hi, I'm yuukifudo, this is the first time I actually post fanfiction so please bear with me, I hope you like my story and if not****then that's too bad.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh, I wish I did :D but I dont :(**

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Seto Kaiba was having a bad day and found that he could sum up his troubles with three words, "I. Hate. Paperwork." he mumbled to himself. It seemed that no matter how much work he finished there was always twice as much that he should have already finished. As if he were not busy enough already, the idiotic school system had decided he needed to attend more often, apparently it didn't matter that he was the head of an international corporation _and _caring for his younger brother, he had to go sit through seven hour long classes of information he had learned when he was thirteen years of age. At first he had bluntly refused to increase the time he spent in class but then the head of school directors told him he would lose custody of Mokuba if he didn't spend at least four out of five school days actually in school.

Those were the magic words.

He would do anything, _anything,_ to keep custody of Mokuba. There was no way he would let his baby brother go to foster care or an orphanage; he had already suffered more than enough. That was why Seto had agreed to even go to school in the first place; it was the only deal the courts would agree to: he would have custody over Mokuba Kaiba if he attended and graduated from Domino High School. He had read over the contract multiply times and with great attention to detail before he signed but apparently the amount of time he actually spent _in _class was under restriction. If he recalled the words correctly, and of he would, the contract stated that, 'in the best interest of the minor Mokuba Kaiba, the right to custody, care, and nurturing of the minor will be given to the emancipated sibling Seto Kaiba in the absence of close adult relatives on the condition that the custodian attend and graduate from Domino High School…'. Nothing about how often he had to attend. He had taken it up with his lawyer and demanded to know it this could be done, if Mokuba could be taken away if he didn't attend school practically every day. The answer was yes. Since the courts hadn't specified how often he had to be _in _school, there was a possibility of Mokuba being taken away.

So Seto resigned himself to spending more of his already limited time in school while his lawyer arranged for a hearing to take place to confirm or deny the school board's threat. It was the only thing he could do, he wasn't about to risk Mokie's safety. And so had wound up here, in his limo at six forty-five on his way to Domino High School with a stack of papers he needed to go over after having slept for an hour and a half that night.

He hadn't gotten to say good bye to Mokuba this morning, Mokie's school started at eight and he hadn't even been awake by the time Seto had left. Thinking it over, he hadn't seen his little brother for more than five minutes at a time for a while now…

And speaking of Mokuba, it seemed that his little brother had become distant lately, for a few months now he hadn't been constantly by his side, wanting to help. Or begging to stay up late with him. Or asking for help with his homework. Or waiting up until big brother came home to go to sleep. With his schedule disrupted by the idiots on the school board, Seto rarely had any time to spare for Mokuba. Before he had always been able to clear a bit of time for just the two of them and now their bond was being strained.

Seto looked down at the paper in his hand, he sighed and pushed it away, he wasn't going to get anything done in this state. He slouched back into a comfortable, if undignified, position. Even now, heading for school, Kaiba had portion of the papers he had to look over and sign, which had prompted his earlier statement. This was a mere fraction of the amount he had to finish; dim-witted employees and a system crash at Kaiba corp. had set the young CEO back several days, other complications and general disorder had pushed him back even further and now he was up to his neck in complaints and long overdue projects. The one place from where he received no complaints was his little brother. He wished Mokuba would complain, that he would cry, scream, or throw things, anything instead of the sad, resigned smile he gave whenever Seto told him he was busy and wouldn't be home in time for dinner.

What could he do for Mokuba to make him smile again? At thirteen he was past the time where toys would make him happy. A trip somewhere, just the two of them would work but he had no time. He needed… he sighed again and rubbed his face with both hands, what he really needed was sleep.

A sudden lurch from the limo stopping broke Seto out of his thoughts. He immediately presses a button next to him, "What happened?" he demanded. The reply came quickly, "I-I didn't see him… I only looked away for a second!" the driver said, on the verge of panic.

This did not sound good.

Seto quickly got out of the limo and strode to the front; one look quickly confirmed his suspicions. A boy with white hair, someone he vaguely recognized as a classmate of his, was on the ground, partially under the limo. The good part was that the boy was conscious and not under the wheels, he was even trying to pull himself out. "Hold still," he ordered, when it looked like the boy—Bakura, yes that was his name, something Bakura—when it looked like Bakura wasn't going to listen, Seto kneeled down in front of him. "Stay still," he said in a slightly softer tone, "You may be injured, stay still and I can get you out sooner," Bakura still looked frightened but he stopped moving. "Good, now is any part of your body behind the wheels?" Seto questioned, still that calm tone he reserved for difficult situations. "N-no, I fell str-aight," replied Bakura shakily, continuing to keeping still. Ok, that was good, "I'm going to have the car back up a little. Just hold still and this will be over quickly," he asked Bakura. "Y-yes, alright," He answered, a little calmer than before.

Seto stood up and went over to the driver's window and tapped on the glass, which seemed to pull the driver from his panic induced trance, "Y-yes Mr. Kaiba?" he said.

Seto mentally reflected on the decision to make this person his driver,

"Back up the limo about three feet. Do you think you can do that or should I do it myself?" he asked harshly. The driver hurried to do what his boss had said, "I-I can do it Mr. Kaiba," he stammered. "Good," Seto replied curtly.

He went back to the front of the limo and kneeled down next to his classmate, "Are you hurt anywhere specific?" he asked Bakura. Said person jumped as the car started to inch backward, "Um, my ribs and my ankle?" he said nervously. That was good. "Does your back, neck, or head hurt at all?" it could be very bad if there was spinal damage. "No, not really," was the answer given. The limo was done backing up and Seto could now see the extent of the damage.

Seto winced internally, Bakura's clothes were ripped and bloody, and though there didn't seem to be any deep damage he didn't want to take any chances. To save time and effort he scooped up his classmate being careful of his ribs and turned back toward the door of the limo. "Wha-! Kaiba, what are you doing?!" asked Bakura as he clutched Seto's shoulder. Was he in pain or just surprised?

"You obviously can't walk and staying in the street isn't advisable either, we're going back to my house," Seto replied curtly, "Not to a doctor?" Bakura asked, slightly surprised. "I have doctors and equipment at the mansion that can do as good a job if not better than a hospital," Seto replied shortly. He usually didn't tolerate needless questions but he _had _just run over the male, he probably owed him.

"Oh, then could you get my bag, please?" requested Bakura.

Well then.

That was a bit of a surprise, after having been run over, Bakura was alert enough to be worried over his bag. Ignoring his inner musings, Seto grabbed the backpack and carried both it and Bakura back to the door of the limo and placed them inside before getting in himself. He pulled off his school jacket and wrapped it around Bakura's arm, the only place that was significantly bleeding.

Seto pushed the button again, "Take us back to the mansion," he ordered the driver not bothering to add an 'immediately'. "I assume you can get us there without hitting anyone else?" he added. That drew a small chuckle out of his white haired companion.

Seto drew his gaze over Bakura appraisingly, after being hit by a car, and most defiantly in pain, he had just laughed at a stupid jab toward the person who had run him over, not even two minutes later. Huh. It seems Seto had underestimated the young male.

at the mansion

Seto strode through the mansion, carrying Bakura down to the infirmary, he had called ahead and they were ready to treat him but the quickest way down was through the house.

Which ment going through the halls…

and passing the kitchen…

where Mokuba was sitting eating breakfast…

Darn.

What a lovely sight, Seto in his school clothes carrying a young man with torn clothing, scrapes, and a blood soaked jacket wrapped around his arm. He couldn't imagine how this looked to his little brother. Check that. Yes he could, it looked like he was carrying someone who had been in a car crash.

"I'll tell you later, Mokuba," he said, pausing just long enough to meet his brother's eyes. Mokuba shook his head, putting down his bowl of cereal. He hopped off his stool and followed, "I just have to know what happened."

In the infirmary

The doctors at the mansion checked Seto's classmate over and found that he wasn't injured very badly considering what had happened. Bakura had bad bruising on the ribs of his left side and some were strained but none were broken. There was also a small crack in one of the bones near his ankle and numerous minor injuries including the cuts and scrapes on his arms and legs.

After the doctors report Seto was able to piece together what had happened.

Bakura – he still couldn't remember his first name – had been crossing the street when the limo had struck his left side. It appeared to have thrown him down and he had caught himself with his right forearm. The limo had continued forward a few more feet, dragging Bakura until it stopped with his legs still caught underneath. And after checking the location it appeared that Bakura hadn't been jaywalking, he had been using a pedestrian crossing in an area with bright yellow signs that said 'pedestrian crossing'.

How in the world had his driver not noticed someone with bright white hair crossing the street? Why had he hired this person anyways? Had he even hired him?

Seto groaned softly and rubbed his eyes. The lack of sleep was finally affecting him. He had been awake for three days now with only about four of sleep throughout those seventy-two hours.

He sighed and looked over at a sleeping Bakura, this could be very bad. Bakura had every right to sue him and he could very easily win, a court case was the last thing he needed at the time.

Mokuba came in from talking to the doctor and sat down next to his big brother, "You really did a number on Ryou, big brother," he said with a teasing smile.

"Ryou?" Seto questioned.

Mokuba glanced at him with a surprised look "Yeah, don't you remember his name, Nii-sama? He's in your class and was with us at Duelist Kingdom and Battle City. He was one of the finalists, remember? And he got injured during our tournament and was unconscious during most of the semi-finals and finals; he only woke up at the very end."

Seto rubbed his forehead, "Sorry Mokuba, I'm just tired; I can't seem to keep things straight right now."

Mokuba looked worried, "How much have you been sleeping? I don't think I've ever seen you so confused."

Seto sighed, "Not that much, Mokie, and now I have a potential lawsuit on my hands, there's no time to sleep."

His little brother grinned at him, "Ryou won't sue you, in fact the first thing he'll say when he wakes up will probably be an apology,"

Seto raised an eyebrow at him, "I sincerely doubt that."

Mokuba smiled, "bet you ten bucks he will,"

Seto smiled back and they shook hands, "You're on," he said with a slight smile.

Then Mokuba's smile faded, "Nii-sama, I know you haven't slept well in a long time and you're definitely not going to school today, so go to bed, I'll let you know when Ryou wakes up, ok?"

Seto was about to argue but couldn't come up with a logical reason why his time was better spent awake. The lack of sleep must really be getting to him. "Ok Mokie, but wake me as soon as Ryou does ok?"

"Yes, Ni-sama," Mokuba answered.

"You're not going to do it, are you?"

"No, Ni-sama," he answered again.

Seto sighed and stood up, "I can't even argue, I'm too tired for that."

Mokuba went over and hugged his brother, "I'm worried about you, Seto, you're under a lot of stress and you don't sleep or eat much. Plus lack of sleep can kill you faster than lack of food."

Seto stroked his brother's hair "Don't worry Mokie, I would gladly take on twice as much as I already do for you, I'm not going anywhere, I promise."

Seto kissed the top of his little brother's head before turning to leave, entirely missing the anguished look on Mokuba's face.

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**Thank you for reading, I appreciate you taking time out of your life to read.**

**By the way, I try to make my stories as accurate as possible so I'll probably let you know when there's an inconsistency somewhere but if I miss something please let me know. **

**Reviews are appreciated, if you have any comments, questions, suggestions, flames, or just want to say you did or didn't like it please do so. **


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm so sorry that took so long, school and testing got in the way for months during which I rewrote this chapter about five times. Expect quicker updates since it's summer and I'm off of school but I write by inspiration so meh. **

**Disclaimer: I own Yugioh in the way Harry Potter can be considered a satire on world politics. Basically no. **

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_Mokuba's POV_

Mokuba watched Seto's retreating back and then looked away guiltily, he already _knew _Seto would do anything for him, he showed it every day of their lives. Seto had literally been the one to raise him since birth, their father too busy with his grief and low paying jobs to care for his children. Mokuba owed him so much and _wanted,_ with his entire heart and soul, to make Seto proud, this was why he found it nearly impossible to look Seto in the face when he smiled at him.

Mokuba knew he was doing something that Seto would disapprove of, that if Seto found out that he would be horrified and blame himself.

So he kept silent. He held in his shame and smiled at his big brother. That was what he had to do, he wasn't strong like Seto.

Mokuba looked back at Ryou and grinned, he always though Ryou looked a little funny. The doctors had freaked when they saw him for the first time, pale as death and covered in blood, sort of, the doctors had though he had been decapitated or something, it had been pretty funny to watch.

Mokuba sighed and leaned on the bedside table, he could only keep his thoughts happy for so long…

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_Seto's POV_

Seto slowly walked toward his room, tired almost to the point of sleepwalking. He knew he should have insisted that Mokuba wake him when Ryou did but he just couldn't bring himself to force it.

That worried him.

He either was too tired to function properly, which was unacceptable, or he didn't want to argue with Mokuba, which was understandable, except that the reason for that was most likely that he felt guilty.

Seto knew Mokuba was aware of the forced schooling and all the pressure from work; he was his brother and the vice president of Kaiba Corp after all. But Seto knew that affected his little brother as much as it did him, he couldn't really be there for him like he used to.

He remembered just a few months back when, for an unknown reason, Mokuba stopped eating. He couldn't remember the exact day; nobody, himself included, had realized for a time that the young Kaiba was behaving strangely. In fact, Seto didn't think even Mokuba himself had realized the extent of the change, that had come up when Seto confronted Mokuba directly.

*Flashback*

"_Hey Niisasma, you wanted to talk to me?" Mokuba asked as he entered Seto's room. _

"_Mokuba, come here," Seto requested, gesturing toward the spot on bed next to him. Mokuba climbed on and flopped over like he always did._

"_What's up, Seto?" Mokuba asked, slightly muffled by the pillow his face was currently occupying._

_Seto sighed and rubbed his little brother's shoulder, "You haven't been eating, care to tell me why?" _

_Seto had been expecting a list of excuses or a guilty look and so was slightly surprised to see Mokuba look up indignantly, "I do so eat!" _

"_Mokuba, have you even realized how little you eat?" Seto questioned._

_Mokuba still seemed a bit put out, "But I do eat!" he insisted "Maybe I haven't been feeling very hungry recently but I _am_ eating."_

_His brother wasn't convinced, "Snacks and single pieces of fruit don't count; when was the last time you had an actual meal?"_

_Mokuba rose to the challenge, "It was earlier— um… it was just... last… "_

_Seto watched apprehensively as his little brother tried to remember his last meal, "Was it even this week?"_

"_Um… I _think_ so… maybe," he said unsure, "Yeah… OH! I got it! It was Tuesday!" he exclaimed, triumphant._

_Seto blanched, "…Its Friday today." _

_Mokuba's smile faded and was replaced by a guilty expression, "Sorry Seto, I haven't really been that hungry lately," he said quietly looking down at the covers._

_Seto pulled his little brother into his arms, "Want to tell me what's the matter, Mokie?" he asked quietly._

*End flashback*

Mokuba hadn't really answered his question and he also hadn't started eating again. Seto had really though the problem would end once the impromptu fast was brought to light, that once confronted Mokuba would make an effort to eat more, but that hadn't happened. In fact, his little brother seemed even less willing to eat afterward.

After the conversation Seto had watched Mokuba closely, gently pushing him about his diet, and trying to stop him from skipping meals but the problems at Kaiba Corp had started and that took up much of his time. To try to counter his time restriction he had the chefs cook all of Mokuba's favorite meals and made sure to be home or with Mokuba for at least two meals a day. Unfortunately it didn't help as much as Seto would have hoped.

Whenever they would eat together Mokuba would just push his food around his plate and occasionally take a small bite when Seto insisted, but more often claiming to not be hungry or to have already eaten. After two days Seto called the doctor he had on standby and had him come in that same day.

Dr. Anderson gave Mokuba a thorough check up but said he could find nothing wrong besides the weight loss; he did, however, take blood samples and said he would have the results within a week or so, also mentioning that it was possible that Mokuba was suffering from an eating disorder.

That opened up a whole new set of worries for Seto.

But Seto continued to attempt to get his little brother to eat, trying to tempt him with sweets and candy but he didn't seem to want that either.

Just at the point that Seto was considering putting Mokuba in a hospital to be fed by force (which would have been no fun for anyone) Mokuba started eating again, in fact, Seto found out by coming home to a shredded kitchen. He had been going to follow up on what happened but then all the legal stuff came up and he hadn't yet had a chance.

It was probably ok though, Mokuba was eating right? Dr. Anderson had come back to checked him again and had said Mokuba was healthy so there was no need to worry.

But then why was Mokuba acting off and why did he himself feel nervous?

Those were the last thoughts Seto had before he fell asleep for the day, still wearing a slightly bloodstained school uniform.

* * *

_General POV_

When Mokuba saw Ryou beginning to stir he pulled out his phone and set it to record the coming events. He waited until Ryou's eyes slowly opened and then pushed record.

Ryou slowly blinked awake, looking around blearily for about two seconds before jerking up into a sitting position with a yelp, "Ah! Mokuba, I am so, so sorry!" he grabbed Mokuba's arm and continued his apologies insistently; "I should have been looking where I was going! Are you angry? Is Kaiba angry? Did I cause you a lot of trouble? I need to apologize to him!" Ryou rushed to get up but was immediately shoved down again by Mokuba.

"Wha —?" Ryou began before Mokuba interrupted him, "HAH! YOU OWE ME TEN BUCKS SETO!" he shouted victoriously.

Now Ryou was really confused, "Wha…?" Unfortunately his apologies used up his daily allotment of words and so that was the best he could come up with.

Mokuba, however, was fluent in the language of grunts and monosyllables, "I bet Seto ten dollars that the first thing you said when you woke up would be an apology," he explained with a devious smile, "and I just won."

After a moment Ryou seemed to grasp what Mokuba was saying and flushed pink, "Y-You where betting on me apologizing?" he asked embarrassed though he didn't really know why.

"Are you mad?" Mokuba asked suddenly anxious, "I'm sorry if you are, we didn't mean to upset you…"

"No, no, it's fine, I'm the one who should apologize" Ryou replied, "I know I overdo it a lot of the time, but I must have caused you a lot of trouble, I'm sorry."

"It's fine, it wasn't your fault after all, and sorry about the whole car thing too, how do you feel?"

"I'm ok, and it was my fault really, I should have been watching where I was going..."

"No it was my fault, I—"

The two looked at each other for a few seconds and then started giggling.

"D-Did you really just apologize for getting hit by a car on a pedestrian crossing?" Mokuba asked, barely understood through his laughs.

Ryou wasn't much better, "Well, _you _just blamed yourself for me being hit…"

Once their giggle fit subsided they both felt much more relaxed both with each other and with the general world.

"So what _did_ Seto say when we came in? I don't really remember much," said Ryou, "No matter what you say, I know this couldn't have been good."

Mokuba leaned against the footboard of Ryou's current bed, "Well... he's kind of worried that you're going to sue him."

Ryou was more than a little surprised, "Why would he think that? It wasn't his fault after all, he wasn't actually driving."

Mokuba just shrugged, "Since it was his car and he had hired the driver personally, and you had had every right to cross where and when you did, you have a pretty good case against him. Well, that's how he sees it anyways."

"Well, I wouldn't take him to court over something like this, I'm perfectly fine… sort of. And anyways he's my friend, I wouldn't hold it against him," Ryou said with a kind of finality Mokuba rarely heard from the soft spoken teen.

Mokuba smiled at his white haired companion, "Yeah, _I_ know that and _you_ know that but you've seen how Seto is. Plus a lot of stuff has been going on and he's really stressed. Did you know that right now is the first time in three days that he'll get more than three hours of sleep at a time?"

Ryou looked surprised, "Seriously?! That's awful… Now I _really_ feel bad about making trouble for you two."

With a slightly devious grin Mokuba responded with "Don't take this the wrong way but I'm kind of glad you did."

Ryou's surprised, slightly hurt, look called for explanation.

"If you hadn't stopped him he would have kept going until he collapsed and was probably sent to a hospital," he said.

"Oh," was Ryou's response, he thought it over and decided that it was probably ok then, "So what have you been up to recently?"

Although it hadn't been a very personal question and honestly he had kind of been expecting it, Mokuba couldn't help but flinch slightly. He tried to cover it with a quick response of "Nothing much" but he could tell from his expression that Ryou had seen it but for some reason he didn't say anything.

"I'm sure that's not quite right," Ryou said with a soft laugh.

Mokuba did the same but it must have sounded a little strange since Ryou sent him an appraising look. Darn, he had been sure he had it under control. He decided distracting Ryou would probably be the best course of action, "So is there anyone you would want to call? Your parents maybe?"

Ryou's eyes widened, "Oh shoot, what time is it?!" he asked looking around wildly for a clock.

Mokuba checked for him on his phone, "It's about nine thirty," he said looking curiously at Ryou as said person breathed a sigh of relief and slumped back down, "what's up?"

Ryou groaned and rubbed his face with both hands, "It's Bakura," he said, "He usually stays home in the morning but he always pops by the school for lunch to check up on me, can I borrow your phone? I don't think it's too late to call him yet…"

Mokuba handed over his phone and asked, "I thought your last name was Bakura."

Ryou nods as he dials a number, "It is, Bakura is what we call— Oh!"

Ryou interrupted himself mid sentence and talked to the person on the other end of the phone as Mokuba listened curiously, "Hi Bakura! Yes, I'm aware of what time it is, no, I didn't actually make… No! You know I actually _like_ school. Yes, yes I am. Anyways, I got hit by a car— OW!"

At this point even Mokuba, from a few feet away, could hear the loud angry voice that was coming over the phone, it sounded kind of familiar…

Ryou's conversation continued, "Calm down, Bakura! I'm perfectly alright, yes, I'm at Kaiba's house. Because his car hit me. No, I'm not going to sue him! LEAVE THAT THING ALONE! (sigh) It's ok, we'll talk about it when I get home, ok? Now leave them alone it wasn't their fault. Ok, bye now, I'll be home soon."

With a sigh Ryou hung up and handed the phone back to Mokuba who looked at him with wide eyes, "What was that all about?" he asked.

Ryou rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache, "Bakura. Do you remember when I would suddenly go weird in Battle City? How my hair would spike up and I would get kind of evil? That was because of the spirit of the Millennium Ring, a spirit from ancient Egypt. I don't really expect you to believe me but could you give me a ride home? I think he might try to go after you and your brother with something that could be a vacuum or a chainsaw if I don't calm him down."

Blinking back a dazed look Mokuba thought back to Battle City and what Seto had said about it, "Do you mean like Yugi's spirit of the puzzle? Seto says that you two have object based split personality disorder. And delusions of grandeur. And possibly borderline antisocial personality disorder. "

To his mild surprise Ryou laughed, "Yes that _does_ sound like us doesn't it? But no, I can assure you the spirits are real, though Bakura may actually be a borderline sociopath. We're not really sure; since he doesn't legally exist there's not too much that we can do."

Mokuba decided to file this information for further consideration and instead said, "Well, it would probably be better if you stay here and rest, plus Seto will want to talk to you when you wake up, but if you really do have to go home then I'll take you whenever."

Ryou nodded gratefully, "Thank you, Mokuba, it would probably be for the best if I go now."

And so, Mokuba left the room for a quick moment to find the doctor who, once found, lamented loudly about how his patient should stay in the mansion where an eye could be kept on his injuries. When pressed, the doctor reluctantly agreed to let them go, giving Ryou a small mountain of bandages, ointment, gauze, and pain medicine for his various ailments. Even then the doctor seemed to be taking longer than necessary to get everything together. Finally Mokuba realized why.

"You do know that he'll be coming back tomorrow, right?" he asked the doctor. By his bewildered expression the answer seemed to be a solid 'no'.

"Yeah, Seto will want to talk to him when he wakes up and after running him over do you really think we would leave him on his own?" Mokuba slung an arm around Ryou's skinny shoulders, "He'll be here tomorrow morning for definitely and probably later in the afternoon too. Actually, if I can convince him he'll come back I a few hours and spend the night."

Ryou spoke up from under the small mountain, "Um, I'm not sure that—"

"REALLY?!" said the doctor, incredulous, "Mr. Kaiba has never let anyone stay the night. Ever."

Mokuba shrugged, "Yeah, well he's not here and he won't be for at least 16 hours, plus Ryou's injured, and it's his fault so as his brother I overrule this tradition and proclaim across the land that is this mansion that Ryou can stay. So there."

Mokuba started to walk off with Ryou dragging behind him, slowed only slightly by the doctor tailing them. He scooped up about 75% of what he had given Ryou and then dumped the remaining things in a bag for him, "Take care, I'll see you tomorrow!" said the doctor, waving cheerfully at the pair from his doorway.

At some point during the journey from the infirmary to the front door Ryou finally finished his sentence from earlier, "Mokuba, I don't really think it would be a good idea for me to spend the night."

Mokuba just looked at him, "Why not? You really _will_ have to come back tomorrow to talk to Seto and have your arm fixed again; if you stay here it would be less trouble for you."

"Yes, but it would be more trouble for you. Besides, if I stay here Bakura would have to come too and he's not the best behaved person ever…" Ryou trailed off.

Once again, Mokuba's curiosity had been sparked, "I kind of want to meet Bakura, actually."

Ryou shook his head fervently, "THAT would probably be the worst way to get to know him. He's not very rational sometimes and he's mad at your brother for me being hurt. No, much better that you meet him gradually and not just let him loose in your house."

This just increased Mokuba's curiosity and sparked two typical Kaiba traits: stubbornness and willfulness. He wanted to meet Bakura and there was an irrational urge to force a meeting in _his_ house under _his_ terms, he bit that back however. "Well, in that case could I meet him right now when we go to your house?" he asked instead.

Ryou bit his lip and looked unsure, "…I think that would be alright."

Mokuba gave an internal cheer of triumph, his brother didn't seem to understand this way of doing thinks but he himself had found that diplomacy is often more effective than force when dealing with people.

* * *

_In the limo_

Ryou seemed to be getting more and more nervous the closer they got to his house, "You know, Mokuba, maybe you shouldn't meet Bakura right now, he's not really comfortable around people and gets kind of nervous around people he doesn't know."

This was sounding more interesting by the minuet.

Before Mokuba could respond the driver of the limo announced that they had arrived. Ryou looked anxiously out the window and then gave Mokuba a slightly weird smile, "Well… shall we?"

Mokuba gave a strained laugh and picked up Ryou's school and medicine bags as Ryou opened the door lefthanded, careful of his injured arm, and stepped out slowly, careful of his injured ankle. As the pair slowly made their way up the walkway of the suburban house, Mokuba couldn't help but notice that it was very quiet. Not a normal 'nothing's going on' quiet but more of a place that few or none occupy.

To make conversation Mokuba asked, "So is your dad at work then?"

Ryou shook his head no, "He's not here right now, he's an archaeologist you see, he's on a dig at the moment."

Well that was a surprise.

"So he left you and Bakura alone? For how long?" Mokuba knew he shouldn't pry but the question just kind of came out.

The pair climbed the three steps up onto the porch as Ryou answered, "Oh, he doesn't know about Bakura," ignoring the second question.

Mokuba was about to ask why not when a voice smooth as a snake's trail spoke, "Well, well, well, it appears the little Kaiba followed you home, Yanushi."

Mokuba looked around and then, when he saw no one, up and found himself staring into mad eyes the color of blood.

"Hello, little Kaiba, come to play?"

* * *

**I greatly appreciate feedback so leave a comment, a question, a flame, or anything you wish, just leave something. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry this took so long to update, hopefully it wont happen again.**

**Disclaimer: I will one day own the world and all of the characters will do my bidding! ...Until then I got nothing. **

**Shout out to Guest, Bubble57rox, hsjskshs, Mr. Alice, Hazi Karov, Aniki-xvi, and HistoryWizardNerd22; thank you all for your lovely reviews. **

**CHAPTER 3**

While Mokuba fell back with a yelp, Ryou looked pleasantly up at his yami, "Hello Bakura, did it get too cold inside the house?"

Bakura, who Mokuba now realized was hanging from the exposed beams of the porch, shook his head no, "I was waiting for you."

Ryou seemed to take that as a show of affection, "Aw, thank you Bakura," he said, leaning up and giving him a hug him as best he could given their positions.

Feeling pleased that Ryou was happy with him and wanting to know what had happened, Bakura dropped to the porch and stepped over Mokuba, "Let's go inside," he said, leading the way.

Ryou paused to help Mokuba up and followed Bakura inside with his friend in tow. During the brief span of time where Bakura was out of his sight, Mokuba rethought the logic in wanting to meet 'Bakura'.

* * *

Bakura watched from one of his favorite perches— the overstuffed chair in the living room— as Ryou helped the little Kaiba stand up, wondering idly why Ryou was being nice to him.

To his surprise, Ryou lead the small person into their house.

Bakura's head shot up, why had he come inside? Little Kaiba was supposed to come to make sure Ryou got home, that didn't involve being inside. Was there something greater to this?

A sudden thought crossed Bakura's mind; what if this was a plan by the big Kaiba to steal Ryou? Or if not Ryou then maybe he was after Bakura's shadow magic or the Millennium Ring. Or maybe he _did_ remember being High Priest and had also gotten the Rod back and had sent his little brother to lull them into a false sense of security so they would be off guard and he could easily control their minds and take their secrets. Or maybe… well, maybe he should figure more out about the situation first.

Ryou, understanding his yami better than anyone ever could, smiled softly at him, "Don't worry Bakura, Mokuba just wanted to meet you after he heard us talking on the phone."

Mokuba smiled tentatively at him, looking like he was expecting to be bitten.

Bakura gave a small huff of dismissal that was purely for show and turned to Ryou, "Are you hurt badly?"

"A little, but Seto had his doctor—"

At the sound of choking both white haired males turned toward Mokuba, one concerned and the other intrigued.

"Are you alright, Mokuba?" Ryou asked mildly worried.

"Are you dying, little Kaiba?" Bakura asked with growing excitement, excitement that was somewhat mollified by a look from Ryou.

"You… you called my brother Seto!" Mokuba exclaimed, flabbergasted.

Disappointed by the turn of the conversation, and by Mokuba's sudden recovery, Bakura went back to his original plan and leapt over to the couch to inspect his light's injuries. This made the entire couch jerk back several inches.

"Yes… yes I did," Ryou said slowly, trying to find the reason for Mokuba's shock, "shouldn't I have?"

"Well—" Mokuba interrupted himself, distracted by Bakura's antics. At the moment Bakura had pulled Ryou's shirt up so he could inspect his ribs and had snarled angrily when the bandages around his torso stopped his from seeing the injury. Ryou didn't seem bothered though.

"Bakura, could you please wait a little bit? I think you're making our guest uncomfortable," Ryou asked his yami, stroking his hair a few times to soothe him. Mokuba couldn't help but stare even though he knew it was rude. Ryou still seemed to be the polite, slightly shy, person he remembered but at the same time he seemed like an entirely different person.

Most of Ryou's usual ways of calming Bakura were limited by Mokuba's presence and by his injuries. The best way at this point would probably be to take off the bandages and let him inspect the wounds but that would require him to take off his clothes most of the way and he couldn't be rude to their guest… maybe distracting him?

"Could you go get a blanket, Bakura?" he requested.

The irritated dark currently prodding at him looked surprised but immediately ran off, apparently to search for a blanket.

Mokuba looked after him in bewilderment; Bakura really was a strange person, Ryou as well really… his musings, however, were interrupted by Ryou himself.

"Would you like something to eat or drink, Mokuba?" he asked pleasantly.

"Um, no thank you," Mokuba answered, "Is… is Bakura always this…" he searched for the right word.

"Eccentric?" Ryou tried.

Mokuba was going to go with strange but oh well; he nodded.

"Yes generally, he used to be very violent a while back but he's calmed down quite a bit. He still dislikes Yami though he doesn't do much more than annoy him anymore."

Crashing sounds were heard from upstairs.

Ryou looked up toward the sound, "Oh dear. Usually I keep a few blankets out even in summer but it looks like he didn't like those." A thought crossed his mind, "would you like a blanket, Mokuba? I should have offered a while back, I'm sorry."

"No, no, it's fine, it's a nice temperature in here" Mokuba answered, but seriously? What kind of a question was that anyways? A strange one to say the least, but Ryou seemed to be a very gracious host and person in general, strange, but gracious. He was pretty sure he and Seto would be able to get along.

An idea hatched.

Before he could pursue it further though, Ryou asked him a question.

"Is your brother alright? He seemed pretty out of it earlier," he said.

This was not an overly intrusive question and seemed to stem from actual concern and curiosity so Mokuba answered, "he… he's been really stressed recently, he hasn't been getting much sleep." There, that sounded vague and truthful.

Apparent y Ryou bought it because he nodded then turned to another topic, "By the way, Bakura isn't usually so tense, you just made him nervous."

"_I_ make him nervous?" Mokuba asked in disbelief.

"I know, doesn't seem likely, huh? He's not used to abrupt changes in our schedule and sometimes gets paranoid when he doesn't understand motives. He doesn't get why you're here and all when your brother hit me with his car, fortunately he doesn't yet see you as a threat so he's been pretty passive so far."

That _almost_ made Mokuba feel afraid. Almost. His brother's attitude was catching on but he still knew enough to be wary.

"What'll he do I he thinks I'm threatening you guys?" he asked, preferring to know what he was getting himself into.

"Oh, if you _threatened_ then the situation's different, for threatening _me _then you'd find yourself missing a few fingers if I don't manage to stop him, if you threaten him he would probably just laugh. No, what I mean is that since he hasn't had much contact with he doesn't know what to expect. He'll find out how much of a threat you are to him and probably take a more aggressive or interested attitude. It's actually kind of hard to figure out whether he likes someone or hates them. Are you sure there's nothing I can get for you?"

Ryou's nonchalance was kind of disturbing and Mokuba was pretty sure he had found out as much about Bakura as was safe so he took the typical teenager approach: ignoring warning signs and do what you wanted, "Yes, I'm sure, is there anything _you_ want? It can't be easy getting around like that…"

Smiling, Ryou said, "don't worry yourself, I'll go, you're welcome to come if you want though."

With that, Ryou stood slowly and hobbled over toward the kitchen, Mokuba immediately rushing to his side in case Ryou began to stumble or fall.

Apparently Ryou had noticed because he laughed, "It's not nearly as bad as it seems," he told him reassuringly.

Mokuba wasn't convinced.

* * *

Bakura ran up the stairs, Ryou had said get a blanket but which one? He paused in his charge to think it over and decided he wanted the thick blue one. Leaping from the landing to the second floor gave him a half second to consider where it could be and he decided it would probably be in a closet. He hadn't really been paying attention when Ryou had put stuff away for the summer but people put stuff in closets, right?

Beginning his search with the hall closet, Bakura's attention was caught by the sight of blue cloth at the top and instead of carefully pulling it out as a normal person would, he did things his way: immediately, straightforward, and messily. Bakura leapt up and clung to the shelves as he tried to balance himself and simultaneously grab the blue stuff.

Inevitably, things went wrong.

The shelves were not secured to the wall and the weight of one white haired yami was enough to collapse the front pegs of most of them. However, as Bakura and several pounds worth of sheets and towels fell, Bakura's grip never faltered, he had his prize. Of course, once he managed to dig himself out of the mess he realized he was holding a blue towel.

Darn.

Then he realized he had made quite a mess in the middle of the hall.

He froze. What would Ryou say if he saw this? Uneasily, Bakura weighed the merits cleaning or continuing his search and decided to compromise by hiding the stuff later.

Moving on, Bakura decided to search the guest room and only paused to hop over the mess of towels; he was going to find that blanket.

Then he heard a noise.

Bakura's head snapped the side, no thought crossed his mind as to whether or not 'it was just the wind' or 'maybe I imagined it', no, there was only the absolute certainty that someone or something was in the house that shouldn't be.

The noise had been soft, almost silent, but definitely there. It had also been coming from the room of Ryou's father, the room that had a window that was always locked and a door that hadn't been opened since Bakura had inspected the room last night.

The change in demeanor was so sudden and complete that, had he been there, Mokuba would have asked if the other one had been an act.

Silently Bakura stalked forward, his movements fluid and purposeful like those of a cat and, like a cat, all senses were trained on the room and the being within, his victim.

Bakura moved to the door, pausing at it but not touching it. In the silence he could only hear two things: his own heartbeat and the sound of muffled breathing.

* * *

As it turns out Ryou made excellent fruit tea.

Mokuba had finally recovered from the shock of finding Bakura directly in his face and having a person he only really knew by sight call his brother by his first name.

He was also finding that Ryou was PERFECT for his brother and although Bakura was strange he wasn't awful and he could work this entire situation to his Seto's benefit…

And then Bakura crashed down the stairs and onto the floor wrestling a large man in a suit.

Both Ryou and Mokuba gaped at the scene as the two older males traded and dodged blows. Ryou recovered first and rushed forward; with what goal, Mokuba didn't know but soon he started to piece things together.

He finally recognized the suited man as one of the guards that worked for his brother and realized that Ryou was talking to Bakura and trying to pull him off of the guard. The guard—Sebastian—was not really fighting so much as defending and trying to push Bakura back but he seemed to be very injured. Sebastian's arms were trembling and Bakura looked furious and was snapping at the hands on his chest and the face inches from his.

As Sebastian's arms gave out Mokuba realized that he himself had frozen.

'_Stupid, stupid, stupid!'_ his brain yelled at him as he rushed forwardto try to help. Sebastian screamed as Bakura finally managed to snap his head forward and sink his unusually long teeth into his throat.

"Here try to hold him back," Ryou said breathlessly to Mokuba, handing off his grip on Bakura's shoulders him without looking.

Mokuba grunted with the effort of keeping the older male off of the guard but watched, fascinated, as Ryou kneeled down and gently began to pry his double's mouth open.

Mokuba could hear him whispering and to his surprise Bakura stopped trying to bite deeper and relaxed a bit. After a while longer Bakura finally let go and allowed himself to be pulled off of Sebastian.

Ryou grabbed a wad of paper towels and pulled an actual cloth towel out of a cupboard, "Mokuba, could you call the police and an ambulance?" he shoved the paper towels into Bakura's mouth and pressed the towel against the man's torn neck, "I don't think this guy's really a threat anymore but…" he shrugged.

Sebastian groaned in pain and tried to lift his head.

"Stay down Sebastian."

Ryou looked at him, an eyebrow raised, "Sebastian?"

Mokuba winced, "Yeah… This is Sebastian, one of the security guards we have around the mansion, I haven't seen him very often but he's one of our guys."

"What was he doing in my house?" Ryou asked disapprovingly, he looked like he already knew the answer but Mokuba went on anyways.

"I… I'm guessing Seto had told security to follow me around. Sebastian probably followed us from the mansion and snuck in or something…" Mokuba took a shaky breath to try and steady himself. "Ryou I'm so sorry!" he burst out. Negative thoughts were flooding his mind, Ryou would probably hate him now and Sebastian defiantly would; both Bakura and Sebastian had been injured and it was because of him!

Seto felt like he had to constantly watch out for him and he was just making it more difficult by trying to show he was independent. He could have just sucked it up and accepted a bodyguard but instead he—

"It's ok you know."

Huh?

"…What?" he asked.

"I recognize that expression, you're blaming yourself for this. Well, don't. None of this was your fault," Ryou said. He paused a moment to direct Bakura to sit at the counter, pull out a chair for Mokuba, and dial an ambulance.

"You didn't know you were being followed, Seto—" Mokuba twitched "—didn't know you were coming here. Neither you nor Sebastian knew how dangerous Bakura was and Bakura didn't know Sebastian wasn't a threat. It's a lot of ignorance but it doesn't mean you can just shift the blame to yourself; besides, what would it help now?"

Ryou once again paused, this time to speak to the person on the other side of the line and Mokuba got a chance to digest what had been said. Could Ryou be right? Was no one to blame in the situation? He had felt so sure that he was to blame but now…

…Now he realized he was being irresponsible and forcing Ryou to handle everything as he sat like a potted plant.

"Ah!" he cried softly, "Sorry Ryou!" he whispered.

Ryou smiled amusedly and nodded, still on the phone. He gestured down to Sebastian and Mokuba immediately rushed over and took Ryou's spot holding the towel to stop the bleeding.

"Sorry Sebastian," he said as the guard winced, "Where else are you hurt?"

"Ribs, stomach, arm, head, neck," he recited through gritted teeth.

"Oh. Dang. Well, it'll be okay; an ambulance is on its way."

"…I failed my job."

That was surprising.

"How do you figure?" asked Mokuba.

"If this house had been dangerous, if that _demon_ sitting over there drooling had been after you I wouldn't have been able to protect you."

Mokuba blinked at the choice of phrase and looked at where Bakura was sitting and couldn't help but wince at what he saw. Bakura's hair was even more disheveled than usual, making the spikes look like horns; a wad of red filled his mouth, contrasting with his teeth and, even with the paper towels in his mouth, a blood trail dripped from the corner.

Of course this was offset by his bored expression and actual drooling. Altogether it was a pretty unpleasant picture.

"Well, it's a good thing he listens to Ryou."

* * *

Bakura wasn't particularly impressed by the situation.

Back upstairs he had slammed the door open and lunged at the intruder. He was pretty sure the guy had been caught off guard, he definitely looked surprised. Unfortunately, he had recovered quickly and had been able to thrown him off. They had wrestled and Bakura, knowing the house better, had forced him out of the room and thrown him into the walls.

Honestly the stairs had been an accident.

Bakura had leaped at the big person with the aim to strike his head. The guard had managed to grip his shoulders and tried to deflect the body to the side, Bakura had simultaneously kicked, solidly and with all his momentum, into the man's ribs. Between the force of the kick and the shove sideways Bakura was thrown toward the stairs.

Thing was: he had grabbed the man's arms and hadn't let go.

Both of them had gone over and were still grappling even as they fell. Bakura took the close range as an opportunity to end the fight and tried to reach the man's throat with his teeth. The man seemed to freak out when he realized what was going on and that made it easier for Bakura to twist them so his opponent hit the stairs each time instead of him.

They ended up in the kitchen where Ryou and little Kaiba were. With something approaching fear, Bakura's resolve doubled, the person he absolutely _had _to protect, Ryou, was now in direct danger. He forced the man onto his back and threw his weight down again, snapping angrily at the man's throat. Finally, with a jerk downward, he managed to bite. He clenched his jaw and dug as deeply as he could, he had hit at the wrong angle though, he couldn't get a good grip.

He tried though, he loosened a bit and tried to dig deeper; then he heard a soft voice he recognized as Ryou's in his ear, "_You can stop now 'Kura, you can stop now, let go. You're stronger and faster, he can't fight anymore, you don't have to kill him, you already won, we're safe. "_ Ryou had kept whispering to him until he finally let go and let himself be pulled up.

And now he was sitting here in the kitchen waiting for an 'ambulance' so the guy who apparently was not dangerous could go see a healer.

What was with today? Two people got hurt and two people apparently weren't evil.

Odd.

Plus the paper in his mouth was seriously annoying, it was pulling all the moisture out of his mouth.

Well, not really. The taste of blood was making his mouth water but he couldn't swallow with the paper in his mouth… Huh. That was probably the reason Ryou had shoved them in his mouth.

Anyways, the guard big Kaiba had sent to watch little Kaiba was breathing veeeeerry softly now, best to make sure nothing important happened.

He rested his head on folded arms on the counter and listened, maybe he had been fatally wounded?.

* * *

Ryou finished his call, the ambulance would show up soon— they had said 5 minutes—and now he needed to make sure everything else was ok. As he walked back into the kitchen he hoped that Bakura hadn't hurt himself and Mokuba wouldn't hold this against Bakura.

Just before he reached the kitchen he had a sudden thought: what would Seto Kaiba say? Ryou winced and shook his head, best not to dwell on it.

Mokuba looked up from talking to Sebastian as Ryou walked in, "Sorry," he said on reflex.

Ryou just smiled and shook his head, "Could you ask your driver to move up a bit? The ambulance is going to get here soon and they need a place to stop."

"Ok, I'll be right back!" he said as he ran out of the room.

Ryou looked after him sadly, poor Mokuba. He was trying so hard…

He sighed and looked down at Sebastian who had gone quiet.

"Hey," he called out, "You still alive?"

Bakura's head shot up.

"Yeah."

Bakura's head went back down.

"Good. By the way, just so you know, you can go through the front door next time. You know, stop by, have some food, a friendly wrestling match with Bakura, lose, go back with Mokuba to Kaiba Corp. or his mansion or wherever you go; no stairs or teeth involved."

"Thank you, but no thank you."

Ryou shrugged, "worth a shot."

He walked over to Bakura and pulled the wad of paper towels out of his mouth, "Sorry 'Kura, are you ok?"

Bakura flexed his jaw and ignored the question, instead looking down at the prone figure of Sebastian, "Are you sure he's not dead?"

"Plenty sure," Ryou answered as he pulled Bakura's head around, "please hold still."

Cupping his face Ryou looked into both pupils and then stepped back, "follow my finger."

Bakura's eyes followed the digit and then strayed back to the supposed 'corpse', "Are you—"

"Yes," Ryou answered as he ran a hand over his charge's head and neck, checking for damage.

"But what if he's dying?"

Ryou paused.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," he said and continued his check of Bakura's back and arms.

Bakura was apparently not convinced since he stared at the guard until they heard the ambulance arrive.

Once Sebastian was on his way, Mokuba decided it would probably be a good idea to go home.

"It would probably be for the best that I go home now," he said "I called Roland and told him what happened but I should probably explain better. Plus I just _know_ some idiot is going to try to bother Seto."

Ryou laughed from his spot near the couch, "You should never cross a Kaiba, they tend to end up on top."

Mokuba paused, was that a jab? Or was Ryou including him into that? Ryou wouldn't insult him, right?

Ryou smiled at him reassuringly and Mokuba relaxed slightly, just enough that he didn't notice Bakura staring at him curiously.

"Well… see you tomorrow," he said, and left through the front door, waving one last time as he got in the limo and then he was gone.

"...That was awkward," Ryou said as he looked after the limo.

He sighed and re-entered the house, calling out to Bakura, "I kind of feel bad for Mokuba, he's trying so hard to get us to like him and he seems more insecure than he used to be. I think those teenage years are catching up to him." He went into the living room.

Bakura was still lying on the couch, looking pensive.

"Something the matter?" Ryou asked.

"...the little Kaiba smells like blood."

* * *

**Let me know what you think is going to happen or what you think of the characters. Plus if you want, tell me what you want to see later on, in the story, if they fit the plot I might put it in. Creative ideas inspire me to write!**

**Read, review, flame, comment, anything and everything is welcome. **


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